'Transparent,' 'The Affair' Lead Golden Globes

Amazon and the CW took home their first ever Golden Globe Awards Sunday night at the 2015 Globes ceremony. Transparent, a family dramedy about a character who comes out as a transgender woman to her three adult children, won for best TV series musical or comedy.

“I want to thank the trans community,” said series creator Jill Solloway when accepting the award. “They are our family. They make this possible.”

Transparent’s victory immediately followed Gina Rodriguez of the CW’s freshman series Jane the Virgin taking the award for best actress in a TV series musical or comedy. “Thank you, God for making me an artist,” Rodriguez said. The first people she then thanked were CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves and CW president Mark Pedowitz.

Jeffrey Tambor earned a second award for Tranparent when he won for best actor in a TV musical or comedy. "Jill Solloway, you have changed my life—for the better, by the way." He added his thanks "to Amazon, my new best friend." Tambor, a six-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, but never an Emmy winner, won the Globe his first time nominated.

Transparent, which beat Jane the Virgin in the musical-comedy series category, was the first Amazon original series to be nominated for a Globe. Likewise, Jane yielded the first nominations for the CW.

Showtime's The Affair won for best television drama, beating out PBS' Downton Abbey, CBS' The Good Wife, Netflix's House of Cards and HBO's Game of Thrones. The Affair's Wilson won her first Globe, taking the award for best actress in a TV drama.

House of Cards' Kevin Spacey won the award for best actor in a TV drama. Spacey won for the show's second season after being nominated but not winning last year. Spacey, who won his first Globe on his eighth nomination, had a portion of his acceptance speech bleeped out of the live telecast.

Joanne Froggatt of Downton Abbey won the first television award of the night, taking the trophy for best supporting actress in a TV miniseries or movie. Later in the evening, Matt Bomer of HBO's The Normal Heart won the award for best supporting actor in a miniseries or movie. It was the first Globe for both performers.

FX’s Fargo won the award for best TV miniseries or movie, beating out Starz’s The Missing, The Normal Heart and HBO’s True Detective and Olive Kitteridge.

Billy Bob Thornton won for best actor in a TV miniseries or movie for Fargo. Among the nominees he bested was Martin Freeman, his costar. Maggie Gyllenhaal won for best actress in a TV miniseries or movie for Sundance TV's The Honorable Woman. Both Thornton and Gyllenhaal were first-time winners.

Julianna Margulies of CBS' The Good Wife and Don Cheadle of Showtime's House of Lies presented George Clooney—a cast member on more than 100 episode of ER in addition to his film career—with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime acheivement. "He is that rare combination of humanitarian who is tireless in his efforts to help those in need around the world and a warm caring friend to everyone he meets," Margulies said of Clooney.

Clooney, accepting the award, acknowledged demonstrators who rallied Sunday in Paris and elsewhere in the wake of terror attacks in France. "They marched in support of the idea that we will not walk in fear," he said. "We just won't do it."

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